randomguy1972

Well, I wrote that over a year ago. Since then I've been working as a cardiac ICU as a nurse, and, in hindsight, I think you are right about a lot of things. And no, I do not think you're rude. I think you saw in me what I didn't know at the time. I am a little arrogant and very competitive. I'm older than most (as evidenced by my profile name) been in the military, and have seen a lot of life and some death. I did not, however, realize how much I didn't know when I wrote what I wrote. It felt good doing all the things I was doing as a student, and for a student, I feel I did those things well. I felt like I had the power of nursing in my grasp. That changed when my first patient coded while I was being precepted. After that I realized that it is easy to 'maintain' drips, machines, etc. that others have set up and told you how to use, but it takes skill that only time and experience provides to be able to handle unexpected situations. To make a long story short, I was knocked off my fantasy perch by the cold realization that I didn't know jack about being an ICU nurse. My patient, who was supposed to be going to stepdown crashed, and I felt the fabric of my universe ripping apart as I realized that I didn't know what I was doing. Luckily, it was my first week and was being precepted by someone who knew how to be a nurse. The patient lived and I learned. Everyday I go to work I realize how much I don't know. In fact, I feel that I know less than I knew when I first started. Does that mean that I am regressing? No, it means I am progressing into a better nurse. I do regret coming across the way I did, but it was who I was at the time. Luckily I work for a great organization that takes the time to train new grads. Even luckier is that I work with fellow nurses who slap me upside the head once in awhile.

I wear short and long sleeved t-shirts of any color with scrub pants. Usually they have the hospital's logo on them, but not always. I work in a pediatric cardiac ICU, so they want us to look welcoming and human instead of like a bunch of drones.

My heart goes out to you. I work in a pediatric CICU where most of my patients are under 4kg; although some of them are over 90kg (teens with DCM or transplants), which is rare. Our patient ratio is usually 1:1; although it's 2:1 if the patients are getting better and heading for the step-down unit. We always have a unit secretary--usually we have two. We also have one tech during the shift. The techs and secretaries are responsible for getting blood from the blood bank, downloading our istats, paging x-ray, filing, answering phones, etc. We also have one charge nurse and one resource nurse who change our manifolds, lines, and whatever else needs to be done. And even though we are spoiled, we sometimes gripe about this and that. I guess I will remind myself how good I have it and complain a little less.

I work at a Children's Hospital that has a policy that tattoos should not be visible. I have many down my arm from the military. I wear Under Armour under my scrubs/shirts to hide them. It is comfortable and looks rather sporty; however, I am a guy, so I'm not sure how feminine it would be.

I don't think you're an idiot. How many times have we thought someone, who should know better, was an idiot because he or she didn't go to the ER despite all the classic symptoms of an MI?

I'm a new nurse, but in my 30s, so I have limited examples to give thus far. Example 1: During my medsurg rotation in school, I had a pt that had undergone a Whipple and she refused to ambulate to the chair. She had told me earlier that I had reminded her of her late husband when he was young. Remembering this, I asked if she liked to dance, to which she replied "yes." I offered to "dance" her to the chair. I stood her up securing her by the waist and shoulders and we sidestepped to the chair. I would come back and ambulate her form the chair to the bed to the bedside commode throughout the shift. My female preceptor questioned me when she saw this "bizarre behavior" until I explained my reasoning. It turns out that she had refused all earlier attempts to ambulate. I got an A. Example 2: Working in a pediatric cardiac ICU I had a large 16-year-old male pt who required a lot of effort to reposition. I had to take him to MRI and to CT (before we got our portable CT). He was recovering from surgery and was being prepped to go to the floor. He told me, "I like you better than the women nurses." I asked him why. He stated, "When you move me you always make sure my pee tube doesn't pull my thing." In a later conversation he told me that he was scared because he might need a new heart. I told him I would be scared too. I asked him if he had cried at all, and he told me no because he was a boy. I told him that I would cry if I were in the same situation as he. I held his head in my chest as he cried... we then played video games.

I work in a pediatric CICU and RNs pull all chest tubes, pacing wires, heart lines (catheters placed directly in the RA and LA), and pulmonary artery lines.

I don't think you're a looser. As new nurses we are under a lot of pressure to perform in unfamiliar situations. Think how far you have come. You are doing invasive procedures on people who expect you know what you are doing. Pretty soon it will be second nature, but for right now you will continue to be nervous, and yes, you may continue to make mistakes from time to time. Remember these mistakes in the future when you are the experienced nurse and you have a new grad that can use some kind words.

Has anyone considered how Kaplan and other review programs skew the NCLEX curve? The NCLEX is supposed to test the novice nurse on his or her skills gleaned from nursing school (classes and clinicals). However, the NCLEX test writers are aware of what Kaplan et al are teaching, so they develop new types of questions like SATA etc. to thwart a lot of the "strategies" that Kaplan teaches. Furthermore, every test taker receives 15 NCLEX questions that do not count, and how each person answers these questions is what determines how these questions are ranked in future test (easy vs. hard). Doesn't it make sense that those who took a review course such as Kaplan would skew these future test questions? Couldn't this make the NCLEX harder to pass, which is why more people are spending big money on review courses so they can avoid being that unlucky 15% who do not pass? I'm not knocking anyone who takes these review courses--they have almost become a necessity. I’m glad I didn’t spend the money. What do the rest of you think?

Congrats LittleWing21. I didn't use Kaplan either. I just looked through the Saunders book and did some questions on the CD. I finished the NCLEX in 45 minutes and felt good about it. Later I thought I must have failed because the test seemed too easy. But I passed, and I must admit that I revel in the fact that I passed without taking Kaplan because it saved me hundreds of dollars.

Based on your short post, you are obviously too immature to be a nurse. Those who practice nursing have to provide assessments and interventions that often require them to touch, listen, feel, and manipulate conscious and unconscious patients. What other profession requires you to document the texture and smell of a person's stool? You have to be comfortable with the human body, and if you equate a foley insertion to rape, then you have some underlying issues that need to be addressed. Rape is a crime of power over the victim. Nursing intervention is a professional act for the betterment of the patient. To me, this is common sense, and I feel that no amount of schooling will change your perversion of this common nursing practice because in just a few short sentences, you have demonstrated a lack of cultural sensitivity and a very limited world view. Do yourself a favor and find a profession that fits within your sensibilities because I don't believe that nursing is for you.

yes, yes it is!!

Update: I found out today at 3pm that I passed the NCLEX-RN. I appreciate all those who wished me well. And just a word to those who might stress during the test because they are not getting 10, 15, or 30 SATAs (select all that apply), don't stress. I only got 5 out of 75. Just keep your head down, concentrate, and know that once you pass, you never have to take this test again.

Those of you who answered all 265 questions have a lot of heart. At 65 questions I almost raised my hand to ask for a break. If I wouldn't have stopped at 75 I would have. At one point, when I was on my third margarita, I looked at my watch and thought: I could still be there right now, answering questions. So, my deepest respect to those of you who stuck it out.

My heart stopped when I clicked "Next" at question 75. Then it shut off and had me complete the optional survey. I almost feel too good about it. I was not sure if the questions I was answering were low, medium, or high complexity questions. I just did the best I could. Now I'll just wait and see.

congratulations!!!!! even through i don't know you, i had a good feeling about it. have a great and wonderful day today.

Update: I had 75 questions. It took about 45 minutes to answer them. So, I am either really stupid, or really smart. ha ha. I'm hoping it's the later and not the former.

Thanks for your words of encouragement. I'll keep them in mind whilst taking the test. I wish you the best of luck on your results. Please post them, and I will check them when I come home.

I've been quietly reading everyone's "freak out" threads about the NCLEX, and I thought I would be remiss if I did not post one before taking this most important exam. Today at 2pm est I take THE test. To be honest, I haven't studied as well as I would have liked, and I probably have answered 500 questions from Saunders (usually while watching TV and drinking a beer), and I read the first half of the book. I must admit that I've been a little hubristic going into this test thinking that because only 15% of the testers fail, I will do fine. Of course that may not really be the case, and the irony of today may just be that I fall flat on my non-RN face. However, strictly for confidence reasons before taking this test, I will say here, in writing, in front of all you fine and wonderful people: I will pass today and become an RN. I will start my job on Sunday as a new nurse, and I will put this test behind me as those who have come before me did, and those who follow will. Post-test freak out and test results to follow. Oh, and by the way, what is a ":hatparty"? Thank you, Random Guy

Nursing school acceptance in Atlanta is pretty competitive. The average nursing student at Georgia State had mostly As in prerequisite courses with some Bs and NO Cs. Overall GPAs were in the high 3's. If you want to go accelerated, you have to be very competitive. However, it is not impossible to get in.

Congratulations on graduating and getting a great job. I too graduated in May, and I got a job in a cardiac ICU for children (newborns to 18 years). It should be fun.

As a nursing student, I've observed one code and participated in another during my senior practicum in a cardiac ICU. I didn't consider myself a "gawker" because I was following my preceptor, who was on the code team. I was learning from watching an actual code taking place. However, there were many others in the room who did appear to be gawking, but I figured they were backup or were also learning about codes.

Wow, you'd really hate me because I've done clinicals in a cardiac ICU for a total of 62 hours as part of my senior practicum (yes, I'm still in school) and I've already participated in a code, titrated drips, done head to toes on fresh CABGs, ran the CCRT, called docs for meds, taken wedge pressures and CO/CI, weaned pts off the vent, and I do ALL the charting. I'm in the accelerated program, which is a BSN in 1.5 years and I taught English before that, so I have no tech or medical experience. Do I know it all; not by a long shot. I have a great preceptor who gives me enough rope, but not enough to hang myself. My medsurg rotations were miserable and I found many of the nurses lacking; most were afraid of the doctors and some were just lazy. To the person who started this thread, if you have the ability to grasp information coupled with the desire to put theory into practice, I think you should go into open heart ICU. Unlike Lorilou22rn would have you believe, it doesn't take 8 (EIGHT!) years of floor nursing to be a good ICU nurse. My wife went directly into the ICU after graduating and she's a wonderful nurse (soon to be pharmacist). Sorry if I ranted, just got done with clinical.